[mplpost] Edmonton Journal full story

[OCFF]

Music week shmoozefest earns top marks

Peter North
Freelance


Tuesday, October 01, 2002

Southam Newspapers, File / A fired-up Corb Lund entertained at the Industry
Awards Dinner.



The strength in numbers theory was put to the test this past weekend in
Winnipeg during the fourth annual Prairie Music Week.

Marks couldn't have been much higher for the four-day music industry blitz
that wrapped up Sunday. Prairie Music Week dovetailed with Folk Alliance
Canada, which presented a number of showcases and seminars under the same
umbrella.

Delegates from both organizations were given access to all the scheduled
activities. Artists from the Prairies, the Yukon and Ontario found
themselves getting valuable exposure to talents buyers, agents and promoters
from every corner of the country.

Artist representation from Edmonton was strong as Maria Dunn, Ben Sures,
Dale Nikkel, ska band King Muskafa and Captain Tractor's Jon Nordstrom all
played to big houses, but with four appearances in 36 hours it's safe to say
that Corb Lund created the major stir in the 'Peg.

Lund's Saturday night appearance in the Fort Garry Hotel saw every major
festival director in attendance, and all listening intently to his five-song
set that was kick-started by a slick and tasty version of Five Dollar Bill,
which he and his band had played only a few hours earlier during his
performance spot at the music week's Industry Awards Dinner.

The full house was as responsive as Lund was fired up. The trio kicked up
the musical equivalent of a cloud of dust and rode a rhythmic range with the
precision and confidence of a champion cutting horse rider, as Lund
extracted pivotal lines from tunes and exhaled them with impressive force
the length of the venue.

With a impressive number of campus, public, and commercial stations
currently playing his original tunes from one end of the country to the
other, the future looks more and more promising with each passing show for
the Stony Plain recording artist.

Stony Plain won Independent Record Company/Distributor of the Year honours
at the industry awards while Homestead Records proprietor Barry Allen, who
engineered Lund's latest album, won in the Engineer of the Year category.

The A-Channel crews out of Edmonton, Calgary and Winnipeg collectively won
the Media Outlet of the Year award for the coverage shows such as Big
Breakfast and Wired give to regional touring and recording acts.

Interestingly enough there was more challenging and exciting
country-influenced music at Prairie Music Week than Country Music Week
probably served up a few weeks ago in cowtown.

One of the many acts that won big points was The Bebop Cowboys out of
Toronto whose new album, aptly titled Debut, is a must-have for fans of
western swing music. For more info on this very hot quintet, head to
stevecowboybriggs@yahoo.com


erin benjamin
________________
Executive Director
Ontario Council of Folk Festivals
ocff@icomm.ca www.icomm.ca/ocff
Toll Free 1.866.292.6233
Fax (705) 674-5227
P.O. Box 248, Station B
Sudbury, Ontario P3E 4N5


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